'Do they think we're stupid?!' Reform candidate fumes over Labour's 'one-in, one-out nonsense'

But the ardent criticism comes also in response to a judge suspending the public from knowing a rapist was an asylum seeker, before the truth was unveiled by Reform MP Lee Anderson.

Sheraz Malik, 28, a Pakistani asylum seeker, was being housed in temporary migrant accommodation when he raped a "vulnerable" teenage girl along with a friend in Mr Anderson's constituency of Ashfield.

Fuming, Reform's candidate for Epping and Theydon Bois Orla Minihane blasted: "The whole thing's an absolute shambles, isn't it? Talking of smoke screens and this lack of transparency...

"The fact that Shabana Mahmood goes on LBC this morning and comes up with these bizarre numbers that are so minuscule and you can see people sitting at home going 'we know there's thousands'.

"There's thousands and thousands that are coming here. You're sending none back.

"You're having to open camps up and down the country to house them all. Do they think that we're all stupid?

"It's the fact that they make you think, as the British public, that we're buying this nonsense still, when we all know the truth."

Over past five months, since the deal began, more than 10,000 small boat migrants made the perilous journey across the Channel.

But, under the deal with the French, Britain has returned 281 migrants to France in exchange for 350 asylum seekers, making a net 70 gain.

She continued: "There are so many instances, in so many cases, where the truth about the identity and the and the background of these predators has been covered up, and all that it does is create a sense of lack of transparency, a lack of sincerity on behalf of the authorities to the public.

"And all we do is just feel like we've been lied to and gaslighted. And the more that that happens, the angrier the public gets."

This morning, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood revealed 281 migrants had been sent back to France under the agreement, while 350 rocked up on the shores illegally.

The deal, which was unveiled back in September, meant Britain would send the same number of illegal small boat migrants back to France in exchange for the same number of asylum seekers.

"One of the first problems we ran into was we couldn’t find enough people to bring into Britain through the new route because there wasn’t enough knowledge," Ms Mahmood told LBC.

"You’ve got to compete with organised immigration crime to get your messages out," she added.

However, she quickly pointed out the rate is "already growing" and had accelerated the exchange process.

She continued: "It started off very small and very slowly, because the French authorities and us were concerned about whether we could just physically handle implementing the pilot, and whether we had the right infrastructure in place.

"So we’ve learned lessons as we've gone along, as have the French."

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